This week, we're throwing back to one of our most downloaded episodes, episode 100.  In 2018 Kate Everett's beautiful daughter Amy, affectionately known as Dolly, made headlines for all the wrong reasons. After being relentlessly bullied at boarding school and online, Dolly took her own life. She was just 14 years old. There aren't many people in Australia who didn't hear or read about Dolly's death. But what about her mum? What about the woman who loved her, raised her and mourned her? In this 1 hour special episode, Dolly's Mum Kate shares her story. You'll hear about her station life in the Northern Territory, her journey into motherhood raising her two girls, and the inconceivable grief of losing Dolly to suicide. This is her story.

To support Dolly's Dream or for more information on support services for adults and children, please go to dollysdream.org.au

If you or anyone needs help you can also call Lifeline on13 11 14. They offer 24/7 crisis support.

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This week, we're throwing back to one of our most popular episodes of 2022. Olympic gold medalist Giaan Rooney shocked the swimming world when she retired at just 23, and she hasn't swum a lap since. Her professional career both in and out of the pool has been widely publicised, but her personal life including her motherhood journey and her recent move to the land is something I'm very excited to share with you. Giaan is married to a fifth generation cattle farmer, but the couple recently make a bold move buying a macadamia farm, and they're have a real crack! This is her story.

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This week, we're throwing back to one of our most popular episodes, episode 120 with Maggie Dent! Maggie is a parenting author, educator and host of the ABC Parental As Anything podcast. But, she's also a born and bred bushy. Maggie grew up in rural WA and her journey on and off the land has been full of extraordinary highs and heartbreaking lows. From a suicide attempt which then pushed her to find her life's purpose, through to raising four boys, she is now internationally recognised as the queen of common-sense when it comes to parenthood. Maggie knows country kids, and she'll make you proud to be a rural mum. This is her story.

*Warning: This episode does touch on the issue of suicide. If you or anyone you know needs help, please contact Lifeline on 13 11 14

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Marion Saunders, who goes by Maz, is a mum to four adult children and a grandmother to six. Seven years ago, she'd never even heard of Instagram. Today, she's clocked up over 100,000 followers who are hooked on her down to earth, over 50 fashion and lifestyle content- sprinkled with her humorous reels she films. I've been following Maz for a while, but there's a lot I didn't know about her back story.
Like how she met her husband at a bank, and how he asked her to marry him while she was on the phone to him in a phone box she'd fed with a 20 cent coin. Maz has lived on the land for years, but after being hit by two major floods in recent years, she's had enough. Four months ago they had to evacuate their property near Carinda in NSW, and move into town - they got out in a boat- and they only just walked back in the door last week...just in time for Christmas. This is her story.        

Christmas book list! Get your hands on Fleur McDonald's latest gripping crime novel, Broad River Station. A young police officer faces prejudice in a small country town, until the search for a missing child changes everything. Fleur's incredible books are inspired by life on the land, and Broad River Station is available now in all good bookstores and online.

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Grace Larson is a children’s intensive care nurse who has dedicated her life to helping other people's kids. But she experienced a difficult role reversal when she became a mother herself. Grace battled with postnatal anxiety, something we rarely speak about, and she would vividly picture awful things happening to her children. Almost every time, her kids were completely fine, but when she had her third baby at the start of the pandemic, her gut told her this wasn't anxiety, but something was wrong.
Her little girl's heart was beating far too quickly, 330 beats per minute in fact. She was diagnosed with Wolff-Parkinson-White (WPW) syndrome , a rare congenital heart defect. Grace and I talked about nurse life, mum life, and the ups and downs of navigating the rural medical system which  I know a lot of you can relate to. This is her story.

Christmas book list! Get your hands on Fleur McDonald's latest gripping crime novel, Broad River Station. A young police officer faces prejudice in a small country town, until the search for a missing child changes everything. Fleur's incredible books are inspired by life on the land, and Broad River Station is available now in all good bookstores and online.

https://www.instagram.com/motherlandaustralia

Fleur Anderson is a cotton farmer and a serial entrepreneur. She's held several senior roles in ag, and now leads the Statewide team in the Office for Rural and Regional Queensland in the Department of Premier and Cabinet. Fleur has carved out a career for herself from a town of just 500 people. She's highly respected in our industry professionally, personally though, she told me she's never shared her story openly like this. Fleur admits she was bit of a rebel at school, a rule breaker, and couldn't wait to kick start a career in agriculture. It hasn't all been smooth sailing though. Fleur has survived cancer... twice. First at just 17, and then again just four years ago. If you take just one thing away from my chat with Fleur, let it be this.... book that check up, that pap smear, that mammogram. Don't wait. This is her story.

Christmas book list! Get your hands on Fleur McDonald's latest gripping crime novel, Broad River Station. A young police officer faces prejudice in a small country town, until the search for a missing child changes everything. Fleur's incredible books are inspired by life on the land, and Broad River Station is available now in all good bookstores and online.

https://www.instagram.com/motherlandaustralia

Louise Martin lives on a station 900 kilometres west of Brisbane. She's a mum of two, and the President of the ICPA Queensland- the Isolated Children's Parents' Association. Louise lived many lives before she became a mum. She spent five years working in England as James Packer's polo groom- there's a fun fact! She was 39 when she met her future husband, a divorcee, who'd already had kids... and a vasectomy. He's closed the door on that chapter of his life, or so he thought. After a whirlwind romance, Louise and her husband went through IVF, and fell pregnant with twins.
Louise was 41 when she gave birth to her girls, just four days shy of their first wedding anniversary. This is her story.

Christmas book list! Get your hands on Fleur McDonald's latest gripping crime novel, Broad River Station. A young police officer faces prejudice in a small country town, until the search for a missing child changes everything. Fleur's incredible books are inspired by life on the land, and Broad River Station is available now in all good bookstores and online.

https://www.instagram.com/motherlandaustralia

This week, I'm taking you back to New Zealand to catch up Kate Ivey. Kate is the powerhouse behind an online health and fitness community supporting rural mums. Kate moved to a high country sheep station with her husband after they'd been living it up in London on a bit of an adventure. At 25, she fell pregnant, and was overjoyed, but when her beautiful little girl was two years old, she had a huge language regression. Kate's daughter was eventually diagnosed with autism, and it's been a very difficult journey this past decade, particularly for Kate. This is the first time Kate has spoken so publicly about her personal story and motherhood, and I want to thank her for trusting me with it. Because behind the scenes of her amazing business, she's doing an incredible job raising three kids, all while navigating the pros and cons of living rurally while supporting a child with special needs. This is her story.

Build a wardrobe you love thanks to birdsnest.com.au. Birdsnest is an Australian family-owned business based in Cooma NSW, offering a huge range of clothing from sizes 8 to 24. Shop with total confidence thanks to advanced filters, 1000s of curated outfits and fuss free returns.

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Mel McGorman was born into a horse racing family, and even represented Australia in equestrian at the world championships. She's now a sheep farmer, a mum of three, and a reality TV star after appearing on Big Brother last year. After battling fires and drought after drought, Mel decided to have a crack at the quarter of a million dollar pay cheque that was up for grabs. She'd caught the eye of producers for her growing Tik Tok account (now nudging 200,000 followers) where she passionately advocates for the agriculture industry through sharing positive stories of farm life and rural mum life. Mel was in the big brother house for six weeks with zero contact with her husband, kids, or the outside world. It was quite the adventure. I loved my chat with Mel so much. We covered a lot of ups and downs and some interesting moments, including what happened when as a sheep farmer, she was allocated to a mother's group full of vegans.

Build a wardrobe you love thanks to birdsnest.com.au. Birdsnest is an Australian family-owned business based in Cooma NSW, offering a huge range of clothing from sizes 8 to 24. Shop with total confidence thanks to advanced filters, 1000s of curated outfits and fuss free returns.

https://www.instagram.com/motherlandaustralia

Annabelle Coppin is the Owner & manager of Yarrie Station in the East Pilbara of Western Australia. She's fifth generation, but she's part of a new generation of women on the land who are breaking stereotypes and glass ceilings to follow their dreams in the bush. Annabelle has two  girls and she didn't take maternity leave, she was still busy in the chopper mustering cattle and running the station while heavily pregnant. She's juggled the love for her children and the love for her station with passion and conviction, and through it all, she's had the support of her husband, a publican, who's the complete opposite to her. But boy it just works.  This is her story.

Build a wardrobe you love thanks to birdsnest.com.au. Birdsnest is an Australian family-owned business based in Cooma NSW, offering a huge range of clothing from sizes 8 to 24. Shop with total confidence thanks to advanced filters, 1000s of curated outfits and fuss free returns.

https://www.instagram.com/motherlandaustralia